ALLEN PARK — Martin Mayhew might feel the heat, but for now he’s trying to stay cool under pressure.

Coming off a 4-12 season, it’s time for the Detroit Lions general manager and coach Jim Schwartz to show more progress on the field.

“I think what happens is the heat on the seat kind of varies week to week,’’ Mayhew said on Tuesday morning. “Guys’ seats are real cool right now, they’re going to be hot come January. We’ll see what happens.’’

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When asked if that includes his seat, he said: “Thirty-two GMs, 32 head coaches. There’s an expectation we’ll have success here. That’s across the board in the NFL. I’m going to work as hard as I can to keep my seat cool.’’

Schwartz and Mayhew are both entering their fifth season and just have a 22-42 record to show for it.

Mayhew would not offer specifics on what success the Lions must have this season to keep Schwartz’s job safe.

“We’re focused on getting better every single day right now and we’ll talk about post-season, after season, all that at the appropriate time,’’ Mayhew said. “Right now we’re trying to win football games, we’re getting better out here. Guys showed up in great shape.’’

Mayhew, who hasn’t spoken to the media since draft weekend in April, makes no predictions about the upcoming season, but he likes what he sees on the field so far in training camp.

“I like our group, I like our talent level. I think it’s probably safe to say it’s the most athletic, fastest team we’ve had,’’ Mayhew said.

“Obviously there’s some places we were more experienced than we are now right now. We had more continuity and experience on the offensive line last year. Secondary-wise we have a lot of new faces a lot of learning how to play together , the guys on the secondary have to do but I like our talent level.’’

Mayhew also addressed other topics.

— On Louis Delmas and his bad knee, Mayhew said the goal is to have him ready for the season opener on Sept. 8 against the Minnesota Vikings. Delmas has been in and out of practice which is the plan. On Tuesday he participated in a few team drills.

“Any time we deal with guys with injuries — you guys might be shocked to hear this I’m not a doctor — generally I talk to our doctors, I see what they say, I get their prognosis and we make decisions based on their prognosis,’’ Mayhew said.

“Louis is coming around, he’s doing more every single day. I think he’s on track to be ready for the season.’’

— On first-round pick Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah who does not always line up with the starters in team drills during training camp.

“It’s no different than after the draft, he can have a really big role for us,’’ Mayhew said. “He’s as we thought, improvement every day, I think he works well within that group. I like the feel we have on our defensive line. I like that group of guys they’re working very hard.’’

— On getting more turnovers. In 2011 the Lions were plus-11 in turnover ratio, last season they were minus-16.

“We have to get back to being disruptive up front, we have to get back to getting turnovers and just being more of a playmaking sort of defense and Ziggy can be a very big part of that,’’ Mayhew said.

— On the improved secondary: “I think the guys we drafted last year have gotten off to a good start. Obviously (Darius) Slay has gotten off to a really good start too. Ron Bartell and Chris Houston give us good veteran presence at the cornerback position. Glover Quin has been a great signing for us thus far. He’s great in the locker room, a really smart player, he’s going to be a productive player for us this year.’’

— On rookies: “It’s till kind of early on the rookie class this year, I’ve seen some very positive things from some guys,’’ Mayhew said. “This is our second padded practice, it’s hard to make a judgment on those guys right now. I’m excited what they bring to the table, they’re a very hard-working group.’’

— On last season: “I’m going to let last season be last season and this season be this season. We’ve moved forward, I’m excited about where we are right now. Obviously we learned a lot last year and we’re going to take those lesson into this season and have a more successful season.’’

Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter for live updates throughout training camp. Read her Lions Lowdown blog at oplions.blogspot.com.